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Ideas for Hot tub pad, other than a cement slab?

Hello everyone!

I'm getting eager for summer and I am extending my deck. Currently, my hot tub is sitting on the existing deck. I want to set the hot tub on the ground and build the new deck around it. Any ideas as to what to set the hot tub on instead of pouring a cement slab? I have heard of a couple of ideas, i.e. platform of treated lumber, pea rock, etc. I am considering the pea rock idea. Anyone have experience with pea rock/other ideas?

Yes, my spa sits on pea gravel. It works. Make sure you level it properly. We did ours ourselves; $150 worth of gravel from Wal-Mart. (I think it was more weight than my truck is supposed to carry!) It's back-breaking work!

Have you seen the spa pads? Those look pretty cool, tho i don't have personal experience with them. Spa Depot has them. Cost more than the gravel, but might be considerably less trouble to set up!

A wood platform should work fine as long as it's purpose-built. It has to be properly reinforced to support the tremendous weight of the water.

Yes, my spa sits on pea gravel. It works. Make sure you level it properly. We did ours ourselves; $150 worth of gravel from Wal-Mart. (I think it was more weight than my truck is supposed to carry!) It's back-breaking work!

Have you seen the spa pads? Those look pretty cool, tho i don't have personal experience with them. Spa Depot has them. Cost more than the gravel, but might be considerably less trouble to set up!

A wood platform should work fine as long as it's purpose-built. It has to be properly reinforced to support the tremendous weight of the water.

My last house I installed directly on Pea gravel and it was a bear to keep level, for my current hot tub I used pressure treated 2X4s directly on concrete pavers and the lowes housebrand composite decking. Keep in mind the composite decking never rots but is flexible so I went with 12 inch spacing on the joists.

My last house, we built a retaining basic wall in a sloped area and leveled the ground. Then added 1/2" of sand (much easier to level than the dirt) and finally topped it with 16 of those 2'x2'x1.5" concrete pavers you can get at the home store for about $5/ea. I left a small gap between them which I filled with pea gravel to allow for expansion. It worked great, was easy to level (with an 8' 2x4) and remained level until we moved 4 years later. It looked nice then and even now without the hot tub, it makes a nice looking patio.